Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses? Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

Former utility player Ryan Freel, who broke into the majors with Toronto in 2001 and played the majority of his eight-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, committed suicide today. First Coast News in Jacksonville has the first report:

First Coast News sports director Dan Hicken has learned that Ryan Freel, a Jacksonville native and former Major League Baseball has died at the age of 36. The cause of death is suicide.

Freel played baseball at Sandalwood and Englewood High School. He played for five different MLB teams from 2001-2009. He is most known for his six-year tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.

His career batting average was .268 he stole 143 bases in his career.

Since his retirement from professional baseball in 2009, Freel was a part of an organization on the First Coast called BLD Baseball which stands for Big League Development. Through this organization, Freel coached local youth baseball players.

Freel was named head baseball coach at St. Joseph Academy in June. He shows up in the Deadspin archives on a few occasions which you can see here.

Former utility player Ryan Freel, who broke into the majors with Toronto in 2001 and played the majority of his eight-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, committed suicide today. First Coast News in Jacksonville has the first report:

First Coast News sports director Dan Hicken has learned that Ryan Freel, a Jacksonville native and former Major League Baseball has died at the age of 36. The cause of death is suicide.

Freel played baseball at Sandalwood and Englewood High School. He played for five different MLB teams from 2001-2009. He is most known for his six-year tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.

His career batting average was .268 he stole 143 bases in his career.

Since his retirement from professional baseball in 2009, Freel was a part of an organization on the First Coast called BLD Baseball which stands for Big League Development. Through this organization, Freel coached local youth baseball players.

Freel was named head baseball coach at St. Joseph Academy in June. He shows up in the Deadspin archives on a few occasions which you can see here.

The Royals have signed Endy Chavez to a minor league contract. He was somewhat OK in 2011 (helped by a high babip) and atrocious in 2012 (but he had a hilariously-low babip)

He's probably about what we could expect Frenchy to do, except a lot cheaper. Along with Xavier Nady and Willy Taveras (both also signed minor league contracts) we now have an entire grab-bag of awful-to-underwhelming outfielders in Omaha.

__________________
<ptp> how many emo kids does it take to change a lightbulb?
<Willy> HOW MANY?!
<ptp> none they just sit in the dark and cry

The Royals have signed Endy Chavez to a minor league contract. He was somewhat OK in 2011 (helped by a high babip) and atrocious in 2012 (but he had a hilariously-low babip)

He's probably about what we could expect Frenchy to do, except a lot cheaper. Along with Xavier Nady and Willy Taveras (both also signed minor league contracts) we now have an entire grab-bag of awful-to-underwhelming outfielders in Omaha.

Chavez is at least a solid defender who can occasionally get on base. He's also been a complementary piece on a lot of winning teams. Solid signing.

The Royals have signed Endy Chavez to a minor league contract. He was somewhat OK in 2011 (helped by a high babip) and atrocious in 2012 (but he had a hilariously-low babip)

He's probably about what we could expect Frenchy to do, except a lot cheaper. Along with Xavier Nady and Willy Taveras (both also signed minor league contracts) we now have an entire grab-bag of awful-to-underwhelming outfielders in Omaha.